Telecom For Dummies

Static, echo, and low volume are examples of quality issues that sometimes occur on dedicated toll-free numbers; these issues aren’t related to the dedicated circuit. Try to duplicate any of these issues on outbound dedicated calls to the same phone numbers that are trying to call your toll-free number.

 Tip  I recommend trying the calls over a switched phone line to make the test even more effective and to help focus your carrier’s repair efforts.

Generally, you can duplicate these quality issues and divert attention from both your circuit and your toll-free numbers, but sometimes this isn’t an option. Say a carrier routes a dedicated toll-free call through one section of its network to arrive at the dedicated circuit without ever touching another end of the network. Conversely, a return call from the destination phone number to the originating dedicated toll-free phone number might take a totally different route back. For example, if you’re calling from Charlotte, North Carolina, to a dedicated toll-free number in San Francisco, California, your call may be sent through the northern section of your carrier’s network, running through Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington, before hitting the dedicated circuit in San Francisco.

This is in contrast with the route assigned through the southern portion of the network. A call from a switched phone line at your office in San Francisco back to Charlotte would run through Phoenix, Arizona; Dallas, Texas; and Miami, Florida, before hitting the network in Charlotte. Because these two calls don’t share any similar routes, you can’t replicate a problem on your toll-free number with an outbound call. In these rare instances, you need to push forward with resolution on your toll-free issues just as if they were switched quality issues. That means logging in all the affected and unaffected call examples you can lay your hands on, and relaying the information to your carrier. When the carrier has all the information, you simply have to wait and let the carrier do the job. If you become too frustrated, my only word of advice is to escalate the issue.